Here are some pics of the toy box I mentioned in my joinery type thread. First one is of the carcass. the panels are a 1x3 on top with a 1/2-5/8" pine panel followed by a 1x2 along the bottom, 2x2's for the legs & a pine panel for the lid/top.

This one is with the lid installed with rocklers torsion hinges. Expensive but they do hold the lid up no matter where you let go along the hinge travel.

This is what inspired the joinery thread, plugging all these pocket screws! 18 per panel plus 4 in each of the 3 stringers/supports across the bottom for a whopping 84 pocket holes. I plugged all but the 12 on the bottom stringers. Next time I'll have a dowel jig.

Thanks for the kind words! If any of you have tips on how to straighten a slightly bowed panel that would be great.
After installing the hinges I realized I didn't really think about them being between the lid & the body of the box. So I'm going to have to figure out a bumper or something on the front side to hold up the front of the lid so it's level.
Looking at that I also noticed that my panel for the lid is bowed some.

I've had relatively thin wood panels that I glued up myself that warped slightly before I put them in the rail/stile. (Don't wait months between these steps ) But I was able to straighten them by putting them in the rail/stile which then held them straight. It seems like if you can get it straight, perhaps you could put it in some sort of frame to keep it straight, so it doesn't re-warp. That could be part of the bumper solution, too. Others may have better ideas if they've worked with such problems.

Thanks for the kind words! If any of you have tips on how to straighten a slightly bowed panel that would be great.
After installing the hinges I realized I didn't really think about them being between the lid & the body of the box. So I'm going to have to figure out a bumper or something on the front side to hold up the front of the lid so it's level.
Looking at that I also noticed that my panel for the lid is bowed some.

Mark, Great Job!! I'm always inspired to get to the shop and make something after seeing what others have made- thanks for sharing.

re. hinge-gap: they make tiny, clear, bumpers for cabinet doors and drawers that might do the trick. If you have a supplier of cabinet materials (wood, hinges, drawer slides, etc), they should have them; if not, here's some:http://www.anybumper.com/cabinet-door-bumpers.php

re. bow: sometimes, something as simple as a couple of cross-cleats (ie. front-to-back) screwed to the bottom side of the lid (sized to allow the lid to still close completely) does the trick. (Sometimes, when doing cleats like this, I'll purposely make them bowed so that the bowed lid and the bowed cleat will pull against each other.) If wood cleats don't take out the bow, you can try either 1 x 1 steel angle, or, perhaps, 3/4" steel square tubing- obviously not as nice as wood, but a bit stiffer; plus, you'll only see them when the lid is opened.
If the bow is too set and cleats won't pull it straight, you can sometimes kerf the bottom side of the lid lengthwise to allow the lid to straighten out; then, you'll need to install a couple of thin 'inlays' to fill the kerfs, and, install the cleats also.
(If you decide to try the cleats, consider routing-insetting them into the lid by an 1/8 of an inch- sometimes doing the routing helps to offset the strength of the bow in the lid.)
Tedious, for sure; sometimes, if it's that bad, it's worth it to make a new lid.

I thought of those bumpers but this is for a very small kid just turned 1 actually. I was afraid she'd pull them off & eat them or choke on them or something. It'd be great if I could find ones that screw in.

Thanks for the tips about straightening that bow out. I don't think its really bad but first I need to account for the hinges to see how bad it really is.

Turns out I don't think that bow is that bad. This pic I took with two washers under lid on top of the front legs. The washers are roughly 1/8" they aren't quite thick enough but close. I think without the support in the front it was making the lid look worse than it was.

With the bumpers in front do you think the lid will crack or split if the kid climbs on top of it or her mom stacks stuff on it? I may end up putting cleat under the lid anyway to beef it up. Or bumpers midway on the sides. Man I really wish I'd thought of the gap those hinges were going to make! I'd rather the lid just make contact all the way around. Live and learn I guess

nice toy box... I have looked at those torsion hinges in Rockler but the cost of them seems a bit high and I have found the cheaper spring loaded lid hinges in HD work pretty good for a light lid.. Those are pretty nice though and I may try them one of these days.

Would it be possible to mortise those hinges down into the back panel by the amount you want to drop the lid? Doesn't appear to be bowed in the images but it's hard to see that far end.. Rick's suggestions are all good if you do have a bow though that is what's preventing the lid from coming down on the front of the box.